Fighting For House
by cantstopobsessing
Summary: After House is admitted into the hospital for too much Vicodin abuse Cuddy makes a deal with him of no Clinic duty for six months if he goes into Narcotics Anonymous for a month for help. What she doesn't expect is for him to meet someone. Will she be able to win the spotlight back as the woman in his life, or, will he find happiness with someone else?
1. Chapter 1

House sat in the plastic uncomfortable fold up chair that was killing his leg all because of Cuddy. Just because he took one too many Vicodin and ended up in the hospital occupying space and wasn't able to treat patients she made it 'her problem.' He folded his arms over his chest angry at her that she flew off the handle the way she did and demand he go to Narcotics Anonymous for a month.

He made it clear that he wasn't going to go willingly and not get anything in exchange for it. He suggested sex with her every Friday and Saturday for the next six months, but, she didn't go for it. Instead, she offered no Clinic duty for six months. He would have been happier with his suggestion, but no Clinic duty for that long was too good for him to pass up.

He scowled at everyone taking their seats filing in around him, uncrossing his arms, already anxious to have it end. He took notice of a couple women he could have sworn were hookers that he had slept with before but they showed no indication of knowing him. He picked the big breasted brunette that sat across from him in the circle that the chairs were placed in to imagine naked to make time go by. He bounced his cane that he held loosely in his right hand to the beat of "You Can't Always Get What You Want," the last song he heard on his iPod that day before shutting it off and grinned to himself when he saw she eyed his cane in an almost seductive kind of way.

His attention was ripped away when he saw a woman take the seat to his left and scooted in close to him as comfortable as if they had known each other for years. She had long dark hair that slid down to the halfway point of her back, had big brown eyes, and wore a green dress that left little for the imagination. "What's your name?" she asked leaning into his personal space, keeping her eyes forward.

He stopped bouncing his cane and hooked it onto his left thigh, having it rest in between his legs and looked over at her like she was a moron, "you do know the meaning of 'anonymous' don't you?"

She grinned, and turned her head to look at him, "of course I do. But, I've never seen you in here before, and although not everyone is here yet, trust me, you're the best looking one..I thought I'd give it a shot and ask," she shrugged her shoulder, "it's just me you're telling. I won't go blurt it out."

He smirked at her which she mirrored and he nodded, "fine. You can call me 'Hard Wood.'"

She arched her right eyebrow at him, "is that in reference to your cane..or, are you trying to tell me something?"

House inhaled to answer and he saw she looked passed him and her facial reaction change to irritated. "What is it?" he inquired.

"Looks like our little chat is over," she motioned to the door and House grabbed his right thigh for support to shift in his seat without it hurting too badly and saw a nerdy looking guy who had to be in his late-thirties, possibly early-forties, walk in and took a seat in the only non-fold out chair in the room. "Teacher's here," she said annoyed. She leaned into him again, resting her right hand on his left thigh, "I still want that answer to your name when we're done." She lifted her hand off and positioned herself in her chair to face the man who walked in.

House's gaze lingered on her for a few seconds before looking at the man she had been referring to. House gave him a disapproving look, and couldn't wait for the first session to be over and done with to be able to leave, and also, to be able to continue his conversation with the stranger who sat next to him...


	2. Chapter 2

Cuddy looked at the time in the corner of her computer screen and knew House had to have come in by now, seeing that it read 11:13. She slid her desk chair away from her desk and made her way out of her office, through the Clinic and lobby, over to the elevator to arrive on his floor. She knew that yesterday after work he went to his first Narcotics Anonymous meeting and she wanted to hear first hand, what he thought of it. If it had helped him as much as she had hoped.

She braced herself for his anger though, remembering how reluctant he seemed to be about going. He asked for sex, and even though she said no in that moment, she shook her head and mused over it later when she was alone in her office. They insist that they are just boss and employee, but, every now and again, they seem like much much more, and she'd be lying to herself if she denied that she'd wonder from time to time what it would be like to explore the more with him.

She opened his door after knocking once and to her surprise he seemed happy. "House, are you okay?"

"Great, why do you ask?" he answered leaning back on his chair, away from the computer which he was hovered over a second ago.

"I came to see how your NA meeting went last night, was it helpful?"

He let out a laugh and his eyes widened then went back to their normal. "Psh, yeah. More helpful then I imagined it to be. The guy running it was a complete moron and didn't know what the hell he was talking about but the people there, now, they...were interesting." He stood up with his cane and bent down to the bookshelf behind where he was sitting and pulled out a medical journal and flipped it open to search for something to help what he was working on before she came in.

"That's great, House," Cuddy announced pleased.

"Yeah," he looked up from his desk and continued. "And, there was this one girl, woman, who sat next to me who I was talking to for a little while. That really made things go a lot better for me. Plus, she's hot," he grinned and leaned on his cane. "We are in the same class so we can 'be there for each other' emotionally, and physically. In fact," he scanned the room to see they were alone and put his left hand up to his mouth and twisted his lips to talk from the side as though he were sharing a big secret, "we already did the physical." His smile grew bigger and pointed his cane at her, "she thinks you're a big moron."

"You talked to her about me?" Cuddy asked appalled, trying to hide the feeling like she was just punched in the stomach with the news of him having slept with someone and, knowing she was part of their conversation.

"You made a brief appearance in our discussion after we screwed. She asked if there was anyone whom I still talked to today that I've screwed like that and I said the woman who holds the key to my freedom, my boss with the curvy ass that I can't get anywhere near...and that's you! Remember that night in college? She said you're a moron for never wanting to do it again."

Cuddy's memories of that night flooded back to her. She revisited that night often and nearly every time she'd see him around the hospital and they'd get into a heated argument, she would wonder if it would lead to them ripping off their clothes and repeat the actions from that night right where they stood.

She remembered every detail; the way he looked as he hovered over her, devoured her with his mouth, kissing, and sucking every inch of her, and how he had thrust so hard and deep inside of her, he reached places of her no one has ever come close to before, and made her scream out in pleasure louder then she has ever done with anyone before, or since. God, maybe this woman was right, maybe she is a moron for not having ever repeated that night when he gave her all the chances in the world to do just that, she thought to herself. She cleared her throat, breaking the silence that filled the room as he said nothing, and just stared at her as if knowing she was thinking back to the night of reference second by second. "I'm happy it's working out for you," she told him without meeting eye contact, keeping her eyes downward and turned on her heel to leave.

House tilted his head to get a look at her ass and watched Cuddy walk away and narrowed his eyes in thought at the way she seemed to unravel at the mention of him being with someone which she tried desperately hard to hide but was being unsuccessful so in turn, triggered her to excuse herself. He threw his body into his chair, grabbed his tennis ball from its spot and tapped it against his chin wondering what was going through her mind.

Cuddy walked down the hall to the elevator but before reaching it she made a sharp turn to go into Wilson's office. She cautiously opened the door, not knowing if he was with a patient, but walked in freely, closing the door behind her when she saw him look up and waved her inside.

"What's going on, Cuddy?" Wilson asked with a concerned look.

She awkwardly took a seat at a chair next to his desk and struggled for words. "Have you...I mean, you've talked to House today, haven't you?"

"Yeeeaah," Wilson looked passed her and squinted to see House's office on the other side of their shared patio and saw his friend staring at his desk holding his tennis ball. "He's in his office now, if you were looking for him."

"No, I was just there. I came in here to talk to you."

"Okay," Wilson said slowly, not knowing what to expect. "What's up?"

Cuddy inhaled, not feeling like dancing around what she really wanted to talk about with small talk so she got right to the point. "I thought this was an 'anonymous' kind of place. But they allow people going back to other people's homes for sex?" she asked.

"Well," Wilson arched his left eyebrow at her as to why this is her topic of choice, but continued, "they have to make connections, right? Or, at least assume it may help them if they did. And from my understanding, they don't even know each others real names, so-"

"Oh, she just knows where House lives. Like it's hard to find out his name once you know that," she huffed.

"Why are you getting so upset?" Wilson asked suspiciously.

"Why aren't you? He's your friend! Shouldn't you be at all concerned that your friend just slept with a complete stranger?"

"Oh, you mean kind of like, the hookers he sleeps with? At least he had a conversation with this one before jumping into bed with her. And, anyway, she looks...nice."

"You saw her?" Cuddy asked Wilson in surprise.

Wilson raised his eyebrows, "yeah, I did. I went over there to see how it went, and she was just leaving. She's..." he shook his head and glanced at Cuddy with narrowed eyes on her. "Huh."

"What?" she asked nervously.

"She actually..." he pointed his right pointer finger at her, "looks a lot like you. I mean, she has brown eyes, but," he grew silent and studied her more. "Yeah, she does look a lot like you."

Cuddy looked past him at his Vertigo poster feeling nauseous. She had grown so used to being the only one to be able to turn House's head the way he does when she walks by because she knew he liked the way she looked. To hear that this woman who already found her way into his bed looked like her made her feel worse. She knew that meant she may no longer be the only one to stir those emotions in him.

"Cuddy, do you...like House?" he asked trying to get her to look at him, reading into her sudden silence.

"That's absurd. He annoys the hell out of me!" she shouted and left his office and their floor as fast as waiting for the elevator would allow...


	3. Chapter 3

House woke up from his three hour long nap that he was surprised went undisturbed. He expected to either be woken up by Cameron because she found a human stray outside that needed love and nurturing and imagined some phantom disease that she insist he look for to diagnose so she can get them to stay, or Foreman to tell him how unprofessional it was to sleep during hours of work, or Chase to ask something stupid like if his hair was in place, or wanted to watch House juggle for him which he always seems to enjoy, or Wilson for everything that embodies Wilson to make him annoying to the point of not letting House get his rest because he was secretly jealous that he didn't have the balls to sleep himself so didn't see why House should be able to so freely; and then there was Cuddy. He was sure that she would have woken him up by now if none of those scenarios panned out. But, none of those things did. He was completely alone in his office that looked darker than it was when he fell asleep. He was slightly pleased that they left him alone but the one that bothered him was Cuddy. He hadn't seen her since that morning.

He looked around his lounge chair for his cane and found it laying on the floor to his right. He reached down with his right hand to grab it, dropped his feet off of the ottoman, and hoisted his body up off his chair. He limped to the doorway of his office to leave and noticed his white board had something written on it after he distinctively remembered wiping it clean earlier in the day. He squinted to see it read: "We're in the Clinic if you need us," followed with signatures. He shook his head, not understanding why his team would go there so willingly, but decided he would go down there himself, to cut through it to get to Cuddy's office.

He took the elevator down and stepped out of it when it reached the lobby. He limped slowly through to get to the Clinic to look at each face in passing to make sure no one was getting by with whom he wanted to see and annoy. He passed through while seeing no one of interest and turned to get to Cuddy's office who he saw sitting at her desk looking at her computer through her door before he opened it.

He opted for the one side of the door to open to walk through instead of his usual both door dramatic entrance. He was getting the feeling like today wasn't a normal day for them. He looked at her hesitantly while closing the door behind him and turned back to catch her eyes on him in annoyance, then back at her computer. "What do you want, House?"

"I'm lonely," he whined as normal as possible without missing a beat to her question, and took a seat in the chair that sat at his right. "You changed your top," he announced, noticing the one she had on clung to her tighter and revealed more of her cleavage then the one she had on in the morning.

"I spilled coffee on my other one. I had this laying around," she answered casually, still looking at the screen. He narrowed his eyes on her and got up and looked into her trash can that was next to her office door. "What are you doing?" she asked, being able to see his movements without looking directly at him.

"There's no coffee cup."

"What?" she asked in an annoyed tone, looking at him.

He pointed his cane at her, making her think of what he said to her the last time he did that, which made her start hating that gesture, "you said you spilled coffee on your top which made you have to change into that one," another point, this time, at her breasts, "but, I'm not seeing any evidence here."

"That's because I didn't throw it away in there." He narrowed his eyes, studying to see if she was lying, but, instead what he saw was anger.

"What's with you today?" he asked, shifting the conversation.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"You're not," he limped back over to the chair he chose when he first sat and she rolled her eyes at him. "There! Right there! You're angry. You didn't come in to wake me up, you rushed out of my office when I was telling you about the meeting that, need I remind you, you brought up, which, I did for you anyway, you-"

"You didn't do it for me!" she shouted, although she knew he did, what she couldn't stop thinking about was that woman and that was what she meant.

He blinked and looked at her shocked as though she turned into an idiot right in front of him. "You told me to go! How is that me not doing it for you?" he screamed, trying to see her logic.

"House, just get out!" she snapped at him. "I don't want to see you right now. That's why I didn't wake you up...I didn't even know you were asleep up there. No, even if I had, I still wouldn't have woken you because I. don't. want. to. see. you!"

He sat where he was, not affected by anything she was saying. "Is this about that woman I told you about?" he asked.

"House!"

"It is, isn't it? She bothers you!" he shouted excitedly, like he just solved a case.

"Get out!"

He scowled at her and got out of his chair and limped over to her door while hearing her sigh a relief behind him, leaving him to think he got his answer that it was the woman who made her not wanting to be in the same room as him. But, this was not the time to ask her if he were right. "One more thing," he started, turning around and caught her tense up again.

"What?"

"That...wedding thing that everyone has to go to next week for Dr. Who-gives-a-shit-what-his-name-is, do we have to bring dates?"

She sighed, not wanting to say yes because she knew that meant that she risked facing seeing him with her but, she knew he would find out if she lied. "Yes, we have to bring a date."

"Who's yours?" he asked.

"Wilson," she answered matter of fact.

"Wilson? Does he know?" he asked shocked as to why he hadn't told him yet.

"No, I'm going to ask him before I leave today," she answered, still holding her composure, feeling good about herself for seeing what this news was doing to him. "We went on those..dates, nights out, whatever you want to call them not that long ago. I had fun with him. So, I thought I'd see if he wanted to hang out for another night."

He nodded, "good." Not knowing where to go from there, he let himself out of her office and closed the door behind him. He lingered near her door for a second, taking in all that just happened. He could have sworn she was angry, possibly had changed her top just to get his attention because of the choice of what she went with, but now, he thought it could all be in his head. If Wilson is who she favored, then, maybe he had her all wrong. He looked around at those walking by him, and limped away from her office.

Cuddy felt relieved when she saw him leave her door, afraid that he might turn around and come back in, and she didn't know if she had the energy for it. She hated that he came into her office. She hoped that by him not having any Clinic duty that would keep him away from her office for a while, but, she didn't get that lucky. She shoved a tear away that she felt about to drop when she thought about him showing up at the wedding with her as his date. She caught a glimpse of Wilson in the Clinic and left her office to ask him to accompany her before he asked someone else...


	4. Chapter 4

"Wilson," Cuddy called out when walking through the door to her office to stop him from leaving the Clinic.

"Yeah?" he took a step back, away from the door and looked over at her and scanned her up and down in confusion. "You changed your top."

"Yeah..I, spilled coffee," she said, waving her hand to dismiss it, getting closer to him.

"Oh, I hate when that happens. It always burns through the shirt and-"

"I didn't really spill the coffee," she said interrupting him after she scanned the room.

"Then, why did you say that?"

"That's what I told House, and I was just keeping up with that lie in case he was around here but," she looked around again, "I don't see him." She looked back at Wilson who looked more confused. "I just changed...to, change."

"Ah! For him. I knew you like him!" he pointed a finger at her with a wide grin.

"Shut up, Wilson," she hissed. "I don't. But, that's not what I want to talk to you about," she pulled at the sleeve of his lab coat and brought him to the side of the Clinic, near her office door. "You know that wedding for Dr. Henderson next week?"

"Yeah," he responded rolling his eyes, "what about it?"

"Do you have a date yet?"

"No...I was actually thinking of not going because of that. I don't want to go without one," he whined, "and if I just show up with House well...people talk already, I don't want to give them more reason for that talk so-"

"Come with me to the wedding. I don't have a date either. It'll be fun to go together," she said cheerfully.

"You sure you don't want to ask House?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I want to go with you. We have fun when we go out, right?"

Wilson smiled, "yeah, I guess we do."

"Then, let's go together. Come on, Wilson, say yes."

He smiled at her, remembering how much fun he actually had during those times. "Sure, let's do it," she smiled at him in response. "Now is this one of those full on dates where I pick you up?...Or, are we meeting each other there...? What's going on with that?"

"Come pick me up."

"Okay. It's a date then. Thanks Cuddy, I really didn't want to go alone...or, with House."

"Oh God, me neither."

He looked at her suspiciously wondering how true that statement was. "Well, I should get back to my office, I have a patient coming soon that I have to," he sighed, "break some news to."

She put her right hand on his shoulder and gave him a sympathetic look. They both parted without any further words exchanged. Cuddy went back to her office and sat down thinking about what just took place and she felt better then she did a few minutes earlier when she was face to face with House feeling nothing but tension, and went back to her work on the computer.

House couldn't stop replaying the events of his office visit with Cuddy. She had seemed so happy in the morning like nothing was wrong, until he mentioned the details of this place. He sat on the same fold out plastic chair for the second night in a row, waiting for it to start. He sighed, thinking of how many other things he could be doing with his time that was wasted on this. When he told Cuddy it was great, he was bending the truth a bit for her benefit. She always seemed so anxious to help him with his problem, he thought if he let her believe that it had an impact on him she would feel better about herself. When in reality, it did nothing.

He took a quick scan around the room and saw that everyone surrounding him were engrossed in their own conversations. He slipped his hand in his right jean pocket and pulled out two loose Vicodin pills he took out of his bottle before he left and popped them in his mouth and lifted his head back to swallow them.

He smiled, as his act went unnoticed and slid down on the chair and extended his legs to make himself more comfortable. "So, now that I've seen all there is to see of you, are you going to tell me your name?" he heard the familiar voice ask.

House jerked his head up in a nod while letting out a laugh when she took a seat next to him. "Sure, it's James," he said turning to face her.

She wrinkled her nose, "no. You don't look like a James. You're lying."

"Don't tell my Mom that, she's sick of everyone telling me I don't look like a James. She loves that name." He saw she kept staring at him, waiting for him to go on. "Fine, my names Greg."

She tilted her head with a smile. "Now Greg fits you."

"Good to know."

"Aren't you going to ask me what my name is?"

"Why? You're going to tell me whether I ask you or not aren't you? Isn't that the most common thing to come next in the sharing of names?"

"The most common thing is to share them before sex but..." he nodded, seeing her point but stayed quiet, waiting for her answer. "I'm Monica." He let out a small smile. "What?"

"Part of me expected you to say your name was Lisa."

"Why Lisa?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing, never mind," he motioned his head for her to look at Mr. Samson who walked in to start the meeting.

She leaned into him, "so, are we getting together again after this?" she asked in a whisper with a grin.

He looked at her and took a moment to replay the his moments with Cuddy earlier. He shrugged, "sure, why not?"...


	5. Chapter 5

House sat on the edge of the right side of his bed and leaned down to grab his jeans to put them back on while Monica reached over on the opposite side to grab her dress. He sighed, thinking of the wedding that was coming up. He couldn't think of anyone else to ask and hoped it wouldn't scare her away. "Hey Monica?"

"Yeah?" she asked while slidding into her dress and came around the side where he was and put her back to him to signal him to zip it up for her which he did from where he was.

"I have a favor to ask," he started, as she turned her head and raised her eyebrows. "You couldn't ask me before I got this thing back on?"

"No, it's nothing to do with that," he told her as he stood to pull his jeans all the way up and zipped them, and sat back down.

"Then what's up?" she turned her body to face him and reached over with her left hand to bunch up her hair that slipped inside her dress and pulled it out and let go, with House watching as her hair fell around her shoulders, and framed her face.

"Are you doing anything next Friday night?"

She looked at him as she thought over if she had anything going on, and he hated the way her expression when she did it reminded him of Cuddy. He thought she looked similar to her when she first spoke to him, which he looked past and told himself it was all in his head until Wilson came over and he could tell that's what he was thinking too. But, she liked him. She wasn't afraid to express it, and that's the one thing he was never able to get from Cuddy, so, he agreed to have her come over again when she asked. As they both came back to his place for the second time he told himself that was just his type he favored. So, similarities were bound to happen, and that was something he would just have to deal with. "No, I'm free, why do you ask?"

He took a second to remind himself what they were talking about. "There's this wedding I have to go to...forced to go to," House corrected, "and I-"

"Need a date?" she asked, finishing his question.

He shrugged, "yeah." She smirked at him and pushed him down to lay on the bed and unbuttoned his jeans and hitched up her dress to straddle him. "So, I take it you're saying yes?" Her smirk got wider and unzipped his jeans without answering and bent down to kiss him.

Cuddy was sitting at her desk sighing at the file of a patient she just received. She was stuck with extra work she had to deal with that kept her in the hospital three hours later then she expected and was about to leave before she was alerted of a patient that came in that needed House's attention.

She bounced the tip of a pen that was held loosely in her right hand on the surface of her desk, as she thought over how urgent alerting him about it was. She huffed knowing that it wasn't the patients fault for what was going on between her and House and grabbed her desk phone and dialed his cell number and heard it go straight to voice mail. She thought about the time and knew that he should be home by now. He left the hospital four hours earlier and even though she knew he had another NA meeting, that ended an hour and a half ago. She sighed one more time and dialed his home phone.

It rang four times before the machine went on and she heard his newest outgoing message of trying to talk the caller out of leaving a message because he'd rather not be bothered, and she waited for the beep before she spoke. "House, it's me. If you are there, answer the phone I have-"

"Yeah?"

She was taken aback by his act of actually picking up the phone and took a breath before saying why she was calling. "I need you to come back into the hospital, I got a case that just came in and he needs to be-"

"You're still there?" he asked into the phone, watching as Monica waved to him before letting herself out after having got dressed once they were done having sex for the second time, five minutes before Cuddy called.

"At the hospital? Yeah. I was about to leave when-"

"Are you going to be there when I go back in?"

"If you're asking me to see if you really have to come back in because I won't be here to know whether you actually did or not, I have Debra in the Clinic to call me when you do or in a half hour after the time I leave to tell me if you haven't showed up yet so don't think you can get away with anything House," she said sternly. "And anyway, I have to leave to get a dress for the wedding next week," she added.

"So, Wilson said yes?"

"He did."

"Does that mean by next month I'll have to start calling you Mrs. Wilson?"

"When outside of the hospital, but in it, I will still require you call me Dr." There was a pause from his end, which left her to think he wasn't amused. "You ask that woman of yours yet?"

"Monica? Yes, I did."

Cuddy made a face, not caring to know the name and hated herself for caring to know the answer. "She said yes?"

"In her own way, she did."

She shifted the topic back to the main reason for calling, not wanting to hear about Monica anymore. "Well, I still need you to come in to see-"

"I'll be right there." She heard him hang up from his end and she stared at her phone after she placed it back onto the receiver, and sat back in her chair, trying to decide if she should wait to see if he actually show up or not before leaving...


	6. Chapter 6

Cuddy and House managed to successfully avoid each other for the duration of the week before the wedding by Cuddy handing the cases off to either Cameron, Foreman, or Chase, which House responded by sending them back to her when she was in need of an update on the patient or an okay on a procedure that needed doing. It worked out for them, and Cuddy secretly wondered why she hadn't done things like this more often, noticing her stress level at the hospital had gone down drastically when not having to see him and deal with him.

It was five till 12 and she left her office to go to the elevator to go up to the shared floor of House and Wilson. She had to see Wilson before she left to get ready and chances of House spotting her between the elevator opening its doors and the walk to Wilson's office were slim. Or so she told herself. The elevator dinged before the doors opened and she saw Chase coming her way. Just what she needed.

"Cuddy, good, I was just on my way to see you," Chase told her while smiling politely at her.

"Chase can this wait a few minutes, I have to go," she pointed in the direction of Wilson's office but he went on.

"This will just take a second. We ran tests on our patient and-" Cuddy couldn't focus on what he was saying. She saw House exit his office with all his stuff and nearly tripped over his cane when spotting her on his floor. She looked away and back at Chase which still left House visible to her over Chase's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Chase, do whatever you think is best and update me when you know okay?" she looked around frantically when she saw House getting closer.

"But, that's not what I was saying. I-" Cuddy looked to her side when she heard the sound of a door open and close followed by footsteps and never felt so relieved to see Wilson.

She sighed and grabbed his right arm and swung him around to face the elevator with her as she reached over and hit the down arrow button repeatedly to get it to come soon. "What's up Cuddy?" Wilson asked confused.

"There's one last thing we need to talk about before tonight," Cuddy told him in a rushed tone.

"Oh, alright, what is it?" he paused. "You aren't cancelling on me are you?"

"No," the doors opened and she stepped in, while still holding onto his arm and brought him inside with her. "It's nothing like that," she said watching as Wilson hit the button for the lobby for them and Cuddy looked straight ahead in the hallway before the doors closed and saw that Chase had left but House stood there with a furrowed brow watching as she and his best friend left together.

"Okay," Cuddy started when the doors closed. "It's nothing major but, I know the wedding starts at 3:00 but, I need some time to get ready and all that..you know, doll myself up," she said jokingly. "So, maybe instead of getting me at at 2:00, maybe 2:15?"

"That's your big thing you had to tell me?"

"I never said it was a big thing," she answered with a smile.

"True. I guess I made that part up. But yeah, I can do 2:15."

"Good," the elevator reached the lobby and the doors opened to let them out and they walked side by side until they reached the doors to the Clinic that Cuddy had to go through to get to her office and her stuff to collect before leaving. "I'll see you then."

"Alright," Wilson left her with a smile and walked out of the lobby.

Cuddy rushed back to her office to gather her stuff to leave for the day and walked frantically towards her door when she stopped short, almost forgetting the most important thing: her dress. She brought it with her in case things got crazy at the hospital and she had to change there, but luckily, it didn't come to that. She swung open the door to her bathroom that was linked to her office and grabbed it off the hook that was on the back of the door. She gave it a once over through the protective plastic she slipped it into that she took from one of her other dresses that she recently picked up from the dry cleaners and draped it across her right forearm, and continued to walk out, locking her office door behind her.

"Nichole," she said to the nurse that was behind the counter in the Clinic, "I'm going to the wedding tonight so please, try to avoid calling me if you can. I doubt I'll even have it on me..or, if I do, it'll probably be on silent..I don't want to be remembered by the family as the woman who ruined the wedding because her cell phone started ringing," she ranted. "So, I guess what I'm saying is..don't call," she started to take huge strides away from the counter towards the door to leave.

"Okay, Dr. Cuddy," Nichole called out to her.

Cuddy shifted and turned back to Nichole to smile at her, letting her know she heard and stepped out into the lobby right in sync with a cane she saw hit the floor to her right in the corner of her eye and the owner to go along with it. "So, are you leaving to get ready?" House asked.

"That's what it looks like, doesn't it?" she asked sarcastically, trying to quicken her pace to get rid of him but he only took bigger steps, causing his limp to worsen to keep up with her. She reached the door, put her left hand on the handle and turned to look at him before opening it to listen to whatever he had to say. "What is it, House?" she asked, trying to be stern to not let her real feelings show of what being near him was doing to her.

"You getting ready for Wilson to pick you up later?" he asked casually, looking outside through the glass door instead of at her but, moved his eyes in her direction after he was done with the question.

"Yeah," she answered, holding her composure. "I take it you're leaving to get ready to pick up Monica?"

He nodded, "yep," he answered, while keeping his mouth closed tightly, releasing his lips a second later which left a pucker sound to inhale a deep breath. "Well, see you in a couple hours," he announced as cheerful as possible and opened his side of the double doors and took a step outside before her.

She waited a couple seconds, watching as he limped away and took a slight turn to get to his motorcycle he rode to work that day. "Yeah, see you," she said softly, even though he was out of ear shot and she pushed the door open to leave...


	7. Chapter 7

Cuddy and Wilson showed up after everyone was sitting and whispered their sorries as they sat down. They smiled at each other, amused with themselves. Cuddy was having a good time with Wilson and was thankful that she asked him. They sat up straight and looked around the chapel and admired the way it was set up. "Do you ever imagine getting married in a place like this?" Wilson asked, leaning into her.

"Are you asking me?" Cuddy asked skeptically.

"What?" Wilson asked, a little louder than intended, with some heads turning towards them. "No, I was just making conversation."

Cuddy smiled with a silent laugh at his embarrassment and caught House's eye who shifted to see what they were up to. She glanced away quickly to not have him see her looking and saw a glimpse of Monica's head as she shifted back to look at Wilson. "I suppose it would be nice," she started to answer his question. "If I found the right guy...and there were a lot of people who wanted to celebrate me being with someone...ha," Cuddy smiled to herself, "my Mom would think it had to have been staged. She doesn't think I'll ever settle down. But, yeah, why not?"

They heard shushes around them which left the two of them wondering if the ceremony was about to start, but continued talking after they glanced around seeing that they still had a little time left. "Do you think they may have been waiting for us?" Wilson whispered to her.

"It does seem that way, doesn't it?" Cuddy whispered back with a smile, looking straight ahead.

House sat uncomfortably a couple rows in front of Wilson and Cuddy waiting for the ceremony to start. He saw the looks he was getting when he walked in with Monica. Most of them shocked that he came in with someone other then Cuddy, knowing everyone assumed they somehow would, and also because he was there at all. The looks died down after a while, in an acceptance of both acts of his choice of a date and being there, but now, they were back. All because they heard the noises that Wilson and Cuddy made as they showed up together.

He tried to ignore that they sounded happy together and knew it was his doing that she asked him in the first place because he had to make it known to Cuddy about Monica. Monica, House reminded himself. He looked to his left where she sat and she looked at him feeling his gaze and smiled at him. He rested his hand on her thigh which got her to react to his touch by resting her head on his shoulder. He wanted to smile to himself but felt eyes still upon him so instead, held his neutral expression as he looked ahead at the altar, watching as the last touches were being made during their set up process. He heard Wilson and Cuddy continue to whisper to each other, ignoring their shushes from the people around them. He was bothered that they seemed to be enjoying themselves without having him near them. He knew they were friends but, he knew that as long as he was with Monica, it left the door open for them to get closer than they already were and that left him with an uneasy feeling. Even though he always kept Cuddy at arm's length from a personal standpoint, he enjoyed knowing she was around to welcome what he would call a 'pleasant' conversation, but what she might call an 'insulting' conversation from his end. But, if she were to grow closer to Wilson, he feared that those conversations may not be so welcomed anymore. And he'd hate to think he'd lose his sidekick. The one person in the world he could abuse with words and actions and still enable him to be the bastard he is in every way imaginable. He felt a light kiss on his neck from Monica and pushed all those thoughts aside and focused on what really mattered. He was at a wedding with a beautiful woman and continued to try to tune out the familiar voices behind him.

"Do you think he's happy?" Cuddy whispered to Wilson while looking in the direction of House.

"Happy? I don't think he knows what happy is."

"He seems happy," Cuddy responded.

"Maybe. But, I wouldn't say he is for sure," Wilson answered, now also looking at House, then back at Cuddy. "Are you okay? We can get outta here if you want."

She smiled at Wilson, "in the middle of a wedding?"

"It hasn't started yet. As much as I thought they were waiting for us...I'm starting to think now that by us not being here will in no way interfere in this marriage happening. Unless...were you suppose to marry them?"

She chuckled, "no," she looked over at House again who was listening to something Monica was whispering in his ear. "No, Wilson. I won't give him the satisfaction. We're staying through this wedding, and we're staying for the reception afterwards," she paused and continued. "I'm sorry, Wilson. I know I'm here with you. I'm here to have fun with you," she said while she lightly patted his leg and gave him a soft friendly smile.

Wilson opened his mouth about to reply when the music started to signal the ceremony beginning. Everyone in the room turned their heads, getting ready to stand for when the bride walked down the aisle...


	8. Chapter 8

"Now this is why I came to this thing!" Wilson told Cuddy as they entered the room where the wedding reception was held.

"Are you planning to find Mrs. Wilson in here?" Cuddy asked while scanning for familiar faces.

He shrugged, "not particularly. But, if I do happen to stumble upon her, what can I do?"

Cuddy laughed and smiled while looking to her left at Wilson. "Is this the side of you that House sees all the time?"

"Why?" he asked in a serious tone, meeting her gaze. "Is it bad? Am I as bad as him? Is this why we are each others best friends?" he asked in slight panic which she couldn't tell if it was fake or not.

"No, it's not bad," her smile got bigger, "I like it. I want this side of you too."

The right side of his mouth curved up into a smile as he looked back into the crowd, "then you got it. Shall we?" he extended his arm for Cuddy to take. Cuddy linked her arm with his as they walked over to a table with four empty seats. Cuddy sat down and glanced at Wilson who stayed standing. "I'll go get us a couple of drinks. Yell at anyone who comes by to try and steal my seat," he told her while looking around for the closest drink station.

"Okay, I will." Cuddy answered. Wilson was off to fetch them when he located a place in the corner which gave Cuddy another chance to look around at everyone that was there. Cameron and Chase spotted her and came over to take two of the empty seats.

"So, you came with Wilson," Cameron stated with a smile.

"Why is everyone so shocked by this? Wilson and I are friends," Cuddy said, defending her choice of a date.

"No, I'm not saying it as a bad thing. I think it's great!" Cameron exclaimed excited.

Chase shifted awkwardly, "she had a little too much to drink already," he told Cuddy when he saw Cuddy give her a confused look at her happy outburst. "You do look surprisingly cute together."

Cuddy let out a laugh, "surprisingly. It's always nice to hear that I surprise people when showing up with a date."

Chase let out a sigh, "I'm sorry, that's not how I meant it," he said softly. "I'm glad you're here having a good time is all. It can't be easy. You know...seeing House with someone."

"House and I aren't together! Why does everyone think we are?" she shouted at them.

Cameron had grown mute while Chase took on their end of the conversation. "Beeeecause of how long you have known each other, the tension that clusters around the both of you when you're in the same room...you guys may not be together, but there is something there."

Cuddy scowled at how observant Chase had become since he started working for House. She looked to her side to see what was taking Wilson so long and saw that House cornered him as he was walking back, holding two drinks in his hand. She gave parting smiles to both Cameron and Chase who had seemed to make themselves comfortable at the table, which she didn't mind. Her thoughts were more focused on Wilson and what House may be saying to him, if it had anything to do with her, so got up to see.

"Hi," Cuddy said when she reached Wilson and House, stopping at Wilson's left.

"Hi, here you go," Wilson said, handing her a beer, "beer is all they had left," he said apologetically.

"This is fine, thanks, Wilson," she told him, taking it from his hand and took a sip before shifting to acknowledge House who she caught glancing down her dress towards her breasts that were pushed together with her cleavage exposed. "House," she said irritated, holding in the joy she got in catching him looking at her as though nothing has changed.

"Yeah? Hi Cuddy," he said as casually as he could muster while his eyes shifted up to her face.

"Where's your date?" she asked, holding the same casual tone as his.

"She's getting our drinks."

"Okay," she answered, showing disinterest in whatever he had left to say. She didn't want him to think she went over there just because he was with Wilson. She wanted him to think that she went over there to get Wilson. "We should get back to our table. Chase and Cameron took the other two seats, and we might lose ours if we don't get back soon."

Wilson looked over at their table, "okay, lets go," he motioned for her to walk ahead of him, "House, I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you," he answered. Monica came up to him with a beer that she held out for him. He took it while observing the table that held two members of his team and two people whom he considered both his friends, but now, he wasn't too sure. At least about Cuddy. He narrowed his eyes on her, while in thought, thinking how she has been acting unusual lately.

Monica slipped her arm through his left and together they went over to a table that held no one and no one joined them. House was fine with it and knew the reason no one joined was because of him. Everyone at the wedding thought he was a pain in the ass other than the one table who held laughter and smiles which made him cringe to hear. But, he ignored it all. He scooted his chair closer to Monica's and leaned his body against her breasts who responded by wrapping her arms loosely around his neck as they watched the band take the stage and start playing.

"You want to dance?" Monica asked him with her chin resting on his shoulder. He took a gulp of his beer and surveyed everyone who were going out there. Foreman, and a date he brought, Cameron and Chase who were now known as a couple so showed no shame as they clung to each other on the dance floor, and other doctors he passed on a daily basis but never cared to engage in a conversation with. His eyes continued to roam as he saw more people gathering around.

"It looks kind of crowded right now. Let's wait until it dies down a little," he told her.

"Is it because of your leg? You need more space?"

"Yeah," he lied. Monica hasn't been around him that much when he was near his own people and although, he is sarcastic with her, he wanted to hide the fact that everyone thought he was ass for as long as possible. He felt things were going well with her, and he was afraid something would screw it up and he'd end up alone. Or worse, still having to go to NA with her after the break up if that's what happens and it becomes overwhelmingly awkward for him to the point of him leaving and Cuddy finds out and makes him do Clinic duty anyway.

Cuddy, he thought.

He looked over at the table they sat at and saw they weren't there. His eyes scanned in all directions trying not to be obvious and spotted Wilson and Cuddy on the dance floor holding each other almost as close as Cameron and Chase were. He watched as they twirled around slowly, Cuddy now facing him, with her chin practically touching Wilson's shoulder when her eyes met his from across the room, feeling like she was being watched and spotting him as the target. Her mouth was moving, telling Wilson something, and House tried to look away but he couldn't. He saw that after she talked, she laughed, and her head inched closer to Wilson.

"Let's dance," House announced to Monica, while grabbing her hand with his left, leaving his cane at the table.

"But, your leg," Monica said confused.

"It's fine," House answered quickly, as he grabbed Monica in a hold and shifted their stance to enable them to get closer to Wilson and Cuddy the more they danced...


	9. Chapter 9

By the end of the song that was playing House and Monica found themselves side by side with Cuddy and Wilson. "Step aside, Wilson, I'm cutting in. You can dance with Monica," he offered. Cuddy nodded to Wilson to tell him it was fine and she took hold of him cautiously seeing that he didn't have his cane with him. "What are you doing here with him?" he asked when the next song started wasting no time but to drill her when he saw that Wilson and Monica were a couple pairs away from them and started up their own conversation.

"We're here together because neither of us had dates, and we didn't want to go alone. Is there a problem with that?"

"But why him?" he pressed on.

"Why not? We're friends so I know we'd have a good time together," she answered coolly.

"I saw the way you were holding on to each other, you looked a lot more than friends," he stated bitterly.

"It was a slow song. We were joking the whole time as I was looking for his next wife," she paused to scowl at him, "if you must know!"

He didn't want to have to ask what they were talking and laughing about, but it did make him feel better that it had something to do with trolling for Wilson, and not discovering any feelings that she never felt because she was too busy thinking of him. He heard the music for the first time, having tuned everything out around them, and heard that the song they were dancing to was slow but there were still inches in between them. He stared at her face, wondering if she noticed, and saw her expression change and look awkward which gave him his answer. To not have her pull away, he continued talking. "So, say, hypothetically-"

"I can see where this is going," she said rolling her eyes, her awkwardness fading.

"Hypo-thetic-ally," he said irritated, then continued in a normal tone, "if I weren't here with Monica, if I never met her...would you have still asked Wilson? Or would you have asked me?"

She bit the bottom of her lip and narrowed her eyes while staring at him thinking which made him nervous to hear her answer. Her mouth curved into a crooked smile and her eyes twinkled. He didn't know if it was the light bouncing off of them or if it were because she was with him that made them do that but he hated that he loved it. "What do you think?"

"That wasn't the question."

Their eyes locked, still swaying to music even though the song ended. Cuddy inhaled about to answer when she heard another voice. "Hey," Monica said, pulling them away from their stare and both turned to look at her, "songs over." Cuddy let go of House and took a couple steps back to let her have her spot back and swiveled around and saw Wilson waiting for her at the edge of the dance floor.

"Is he still looking?" Cuddy asked him when she got close.

"Yep," Wilson answered. "How did it go?"

"How do you think?" she asked sarcastically as they found their way back to their table.

"I think it was awkward for you, as he was prying answers of why we are together," he said casually which left Cuddy amazed at how well he knew House.

"What's she like?"

"Honestly, she seemed nice when I first saw her. That one night but now..." he sat down and looked casually at his friend and the woman he just spent the last few minutes with, "I have to say you're better for him. I fear that if they keep hanging around each other, if say, one of them were to slip, having met in NA, so share a big addiction problem, that the other will too. I don't want House to get worse then he already is. I worry about him enough as it is. He needs to be with you."

She took her seat, listening intently, sharing his worry then rolled her eyes at him when she heard his last statement, "yeah, try telling him that."

"I don't think I have to," Wilson said looking down with his eyes widened for extra effect.

"Why?" she asked curiously.

"Because he keeps glancing over here," he paused and watched her reaction and saw her blush but shrugged, acting like it's nothing. "You know what I think you should do?"

"What?"

"I think...well, tonight, I think we should just enjoy ourselves, but on Monday, when we are all back at the hospital, you do what you have to do...wear the...lowest low cut blouse you have, do, whatever you do to get his attention and fight. Fight for House because you know you want to," he said narrowing his eyes on her and pointing. "Win him over, Cuddy."

She smiled at him, "you are a really good friend, I hope you know that, Wilson."

He nodded, "I know. So, are you going to do it?"

She thought for a second and looked at him, "yeah, why not?"

"Good," he said in a pleased tone as they both grabbed their beers, clinked them together and started drinking...


	10. Chapter 10

Cuddy thought about what Wilson said all through the rest of the weekend. She would sometimes start wondering what House was doing at a certain time and she chose to think he was sitting alone in his apartment, playing his piano or guitar, instead of what he was probably doing; entertaining Monica. And 'entertaining' is as detailed as she'd let herself think.

But it was Monday. She was freshly showered and almost ready for work. She opened her closet and scanned for what to wear. She decided on keeping the skirt professional; she didn't want everyone to be able to look up so easily, but, the blouse was a different story. After selecting a red skirt, which she heard is a color that men favor on women, and although House's outlook on the world is different from any other man she has ever known, when it comes to women, no matter how different he claims to be, he isn't. She threw it on top of her bed and started searching for that perfect blouse.

She rummaged through all of them, considering how low each one dips, and if it goes with her skirt. She had almost given up until she came across one she had completely forgotten about. It was a black blouse she bought a long time ago but never wore out. Her mindset when she purchased it was for a date, a third most likely, where the guy is roped in and at the end of it, was most likely sex. And if the guy wasn't in the mood, then that top was surely the one to do it. She never thought it was professional enough for the hospital, but she pulled it out of her closet to look it over, and grinned to herself, thinking one day won't hurt. She grabbed that and the skirt, and went to the bathroom to slip out of her towel and change into her outfit of choice. She smiled at herself in the mirror when she saw a low dipped blouse that left very little to the imagination of what it barely held inside, and grabbed her hairdryer for her hair and her make-up to apply before heading out the door.

* * *

House turned from laying on his back to his left, and opened one eye at a time, faced with black hair sprawled out on the pillow next to his. He lifted his body by propping his left elbow on the mattress and turned to look behind him at the alarm clock. He let his body fall back down and took a deep breath. Monica still hadn't left and he was already late for work, which meant he had to wake her up. "Hey..hey, wake up," he said, with his right hand on her bare back to nudge her. "C'mon, I have to leave for work."

"What time is it?" she mumbled.

"10:06." He brought his arm back towards him when he saw her shifting her position and turned to face him without bothering to cover up. He took a quick peek at her breasts and looked back up at her. "You can take a shower here if you want. I can just get dressed and take a shower at the hospital. I should leave here by at least 10:30 though, so you have to be kind of fast in there."

"Okay," she answered with a smile and threw the blankets off of her and walked towards the bathroom swaying her hips, feeling House's eyes watch as her naked body disappeared behind the door that she closed and started the water for it to get to the right temperature before getting in.

House turned on his back and stared at the ceiling. He managed to forget about Cuddy all weekend, not having to be called in to the hospital for anything. It was hard to do until he invited Monica to stay with him and he kept himself occupied with her. But now, it was Monday. There wasn't anymore avoiding. He sighed and rubbed both hands over his face and stood up, limped over to the opposite side of the bed where his bedroom closet was and pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of jeans to wear. He sat on the edge of the bed to put them on without hurting his leg more then it already did by standing too long and when he was finished he popped a couple Vicodin that was sitting on the night stand, and made his way into the kitchen to make them some coffee.

* * *

Monica was fast enough for him to make it to the hospital at 10:45, which he was hoping for. He nervously scanned the lobby for Cuddy, not wanting to see her just yet and pounded the button for the elevator to let him in repeatedly with the tip of his cane until it finally decided to arrive on the lobby floor to collect him and take him where he needed to be.

He stopped by his office to alert his team he was there, but needed to pop in the shower before doing anything. They gave him skeptical looks, hearing a snide remark from Foreman asking "since when do you start actually handing out reasons for not doing anything?" House smirked at the way his team knew him as well as they do, and still obediently does his work for him, without much resistance. They all casually went back to what they were doing to wait for him to return and to receive a case.

He poked his head out the door and looked both ways before exposing himself into the hallway to get from his office to the shower room and grinned to himself as he got there successfully without running into anyone; Wilson included.

He was pleased to see he was the only one in there. He selected a shower at the end, and turned the water on, stripped down to nothing, left his clothes where they fell, and stepped into the stream, closing the curtain around him.

He grabbed the shampoo that was provided first and lathered his hair, getting some in his eyes and squeezed them tight so none seeped in when he heard the door open and heels echo. "House," he heard Cuddy say.

"You do know this is the mens shower room, don't you?" he asked blindly, trying to follow the sound of her heels to help determine where she was.

"You are the only one in here, so its only you I'm bothering," she answered coolly.

He dove his face into the stream to get the shampoo out of his eyes to look at her. "How did you know I was here?"

"Your team."

"You do know I'm naked in here, right? That doesn't bother you?" he asked with a swipe over his face with his right hand to get rid of the access water dripping down and opened his eyes, seeing that she was wearing darker eye shadow then usual, her hair perfectly done, surrounding her face like a frame, and his eyes fell down to her cleavage and lingered there, raising his eyebrows trying to will them back up to her face.

Cuddy continued talking and let him stare, "you think I've never seen a penis before? You think I don't have sex?" she challenged.

"Of course I think you have sex," he managed to look up and focus on her again. "I just don't want you to see what you're missing and have all your experiences since this moment not compare. I know its been a while since our night shared in college, and so, you may have forgotten. I wanted to spare you the pain and suffering," he answered sarcastically.

"Oh, don't worry, House," she said, taking a step closer to his curtain to get closer to him. "I'll still be able to enjoy the feel of another mans penis in me, thrusting hard and fast, and fighting for control of the situation until we both can't take it anymore and come like never before," she said intently, and seductively. "Even after this moment," she said casually and arched an eyebrow at him. "Did you just get turned on by imagining me having sex, House?"

"No, not at all, it actually is a turn off for me. Quite the opposite," he spat.

She smirked at him, "you may be able to lie, but your penis is the one that can't." He looked down at himself when he saw her gaze fall quickly and saw he was fully erect. "Take care of that and get to your office when your done," she said walking away lifting a file facing the door, "I have a case for you."

"Shit," House mumbled when she left and took hold of himself to get rid of his erection before continuing his shower...


	11. Chapter 11

Cuddy was standing at the head of the table near the door that is usually occupied by House as she read them all the details of the file for the patient she had for them. They all quietly listened and came close to lean in and read the file for themselves as she took a step back to leave. She examined his team hunched over, as they threw out ideas to each other of a diagnosis and her breath caught in her throat when she turned to walk out and saw House standing in the doorway. "House," she said as pleasantly as she could in acknowledgement of him and walked by him which he moved slightly to give her some room to do.

"Cuddy," he retorted through clenched teeth, still upset for what she did to him when he was in the shower. He grabbed her left upper arm to stop her from passing him completely. She looked down at his hand and up at him questionably. "You never answered my question," he told her letting go of her arm.

"What question?"

"The one I asked you when we were dancing at the wedding. If I weren't with Monica, would you have asked me?" he repeated, annoyed that he had to in the first place. He saw Cuddy look towards his team awkwardly, knowing they could overhear what they were saying although they tried not to, or, at least looked like they were trying not to. House's gaze followed hers and he used his cane to hook the handle to the door and pulled it closer to him to close it and give them privacy as he waited for her answer.

"What do you think the answer would be?" she asked again, only using slightly different wording then she did that night.

"Would you just answer!" he shouted, frustrated.

"What does it matter?" she asked casually and turned to walk towards the elevator to leave but felt a tighter grip on her left upper arm and House spun her back around to face him.

She saw his face an inch away from her own, his eyes piercing into hers, "it matters," he said deeply and with a hint of intimacy that sent chills down her spine.

She swallowed hard, trying to hold her composure and cool, to not allow him the satisfaction of knowing that his closeness was making her weak in the knees. "It shouldn't," she managed to retort and pulled her arm loose from his grip, but he grabbed it back, not letting her walk away.

"You can't act like you aren't bothered by me dating someone," he said in the same deep tone. "At first, I admit, I didn't think anything of your feelings about the whole thing. But then, I see you parading around here," his grip got tighter, "doing what you did to me when I was taking a shower," his grip loosened when the memory faded, "and wearing what you're wearing," his eyes slowly slid down her entire body, taking everything he was seeing in. "You can't tell me you didn't put that on without the thought of trying to grab my attention."

Her heart pounded in her chest, his scent was surrounding her, his eyes stayed intently on her, his hand so firm on her arm she never wanted him to release it, afraid of feeling disconnected from him once he did. But, she didn't want to crumble under his control. He was manipulating her, getting even for what she did to him, she was sure of it. She wouldn't give in. She yanked herself free, narrowed her eyes on him and sneered at him, "you're wrong, House, not everything is about you, and none of this," she motioned to herself to signal to what she was wearing, "was for you," she lied.

She turned on her heel and stormed off as fast as she could, relief flooded through her when the elevator opened as soon as she hit the button and walked in and turned to look back him. He stood where she left him, still looking sure he had her all figured out.

The doors closed and Cuddy released the tension in her body and nearly fell to the floor at how weak he made her feel. She wanted him; her whole body ached for him. And in that moment, she hated him for it.

* * *

House sat in his office, ignoring his team and what they told him about the patient that Cuddy gave them. He told them to use their best judgement and leave him alone. He grabbed his tennis ball and threw it up in the air to catch.

She had to be lying, about all of it. She was the one person he could read perfectly; better than himself at times, and she was falling apart in front of his eyes. He felt convinced she was, and there was nothing he wanted to do more in that moment but get on the phone with Monica and break it off with her to tell Cuddy he wanted her. Until she said he was wrong.

He twisted his mouth in thought and threw the ball up and caught it again. He was sure he wasn't wrong..


	12. Chapter 12

House exited the elevator to enter the lobby and was making his way to the door to leave when he spotted Cuddy hovering over the counter looking at her messages. He at first, was just going to pass by her but, because of the damn blouse she chose to wear, seeing her cleavage even more so then he had earlier by the way she leaned slightly forward, he felt compelled to stop and talk to her before fully leaving the hospital. "What are you still doing here?" he asked casually, sliding next to her.

"It's going to be a long day, I'll be here a few more hours," she answered, still looking at her messages and not him. He looked around the lobby trying hard not to stare at her chest that was calling out to him to look and tapped his knuckles against the counter top while making clicking sounds with his tongue hitting the roof of his mouth. "What is it, House?" she asked irritated that he was still there.

"Nothing. See you later," he answered in defeat and left the hospital.

* * *

Three hours after he left the hospital he was limping down the sidewalk after he parked his motorcycle to get to the building for NA, still thinking of Cuddy and how he was certain there were feelings for him that she was trying to mask. He tried pushing the thought of her away. He already wasted all day on her and it got him nowhere.

He took a deep breath about to enter the building, when a man and a woman giggling near the entryway, their faces not even an inch apart from each other leaned in to kiss, caught his eye. He squinted when he noticed he recognized the dress the woman was wearing and scowled when he got closer and saw it was Monica.

Anger built up in him. He turned around and limped back to his motorcycle as quickly as he could, deciding he had enough of all of it. Monica, and NA. If Cuddy wasn't going to hold up her end of having him get out of Clinic duty then he'd make his team do it for him.

He knew he should be angry because Monica was clearly making the rounds of different guys while with him, and his initial reaction was that; the betrayal and pain that always seems to find him when he lets someone in which he tries to avoid relationships at all costs because of those feelings. But the closer he got to his motorcycle he realized it wasn't the betrayal of the relationship with her he was upset about. It was the fact that the relationship was getting in the way of the one he really wanted to let in and risk it all with. He looked around at his surroundings, the hospital wasn't too far.

Meanwhile, Cuddy felt every muscle ache, every bone in her body pleading with her to go home and sleep. But she had to stay a little longer. The meeting she had scheduled, which she had forgotten all about before she changed for the day but luckily had a blazer to cover herself with in her office, pushed all her work back and had to catch up before she left.

She sat at her desk and massaged the back of her neck with her left hand. She got rid of some of the tension and stood up, remembering a book on her shelf near the door that she needed so went over to the corner of her office to retrieve it. She had her fingers lightly touching the binding of each book as she looked for it and heard her office door swing open and slam shut. She swiveled her body around and was face to face with House. "What are you doing back here?" she asked surprised.

"You say that I'm wrong," he said limping closer to her, forcing her to back up against her bookshelf. "But, I don't buy it. I think I'm right," his body got close to hers with all the steps he took, and she felt his chest against hers every time she inhaled. She saw his eyes graze down at the touch and shifted back up to stare intently at her. He tilted his head, "you claim none of this was for me," his head straightened, "which I might have bought some other time, in the past, like maybe when...oh I don't know, when I'm available and its not fun for you to drive me insane, knowing I can't have you because I'm with someone else," he said, having emphasized on 'insane' and narrowed his eyes on her moving his face forward, closer to hers. She looked down at his mouth, feeling herself unravel with him so near.

"House, someone will see," she said breathlessly.

He smirked, seeing her eyes focused on his lips and his eyes dropped down to hers. "It's late, there's barely anyone here who gives a crap." He lifted his right hand and grabbed onto the shelf behind her, with her feeling his cane against her arm that he still held with it and took a step closer. His right leg found its way in the small gap in between her own legs and planted his foot there. Her breath became unsteady and let her eyelids drop over her eyes when she saw his face moving forward into hers and felt his lips meet hers, slightly parted.

His knees bent and buckled straight, rubbing up against her body, she let out a soft moan and breathed in deeply taking in the smell she longed to smell all around her for so long. The tease she got of it when they were dancing together at the wedding was enough to drive her crazy and her senses were taking in as much of it in as it could.

He broke apart, her eyes lazily opened, wanting more. She focused her eyes and saw a mischievous grin welcome her. "You can't say I'm wrong," he told her, taking steps backwards, lowering his arm from the bookshelf, getting further away from her. He pointed at her with his cane when he reached the door. "I felt tongue." He opened her door to let himself out. "Good night, DR. CUDDY. I'll see you tomorrow."

She watched him go and her left hand trailed to her lips and touched them, hiding the smile that she felt form as soon as he was out of her office...


	13. Chapter 13

Cuddy stood at the lobby counter and was surprised to see House show up next to her. She glanced quickly at him as he scooped up pink slips that had messages written down for him and she flashed back to the last time she saw him and could have sworn she still felt his lips on hers. "What are you doing here so early?" she asked as casually as she could.

"Couldn't sleep," he answered nonchalantly, still flipping through his messages.

"So you decided to come in to work? That's not like you," she responded, trying to keep things as normal as possible, not knowing if she was the only one thinking of the night before. He inhaled to answer but exhaled when he heard his cell start to ring and pulled it out of his pocket. She watched as he made a face at the screen and hit ignore to end the call. "Who was that?" she inquired.

He slipped the messages into his pocket with his cell phone and turned his head to his right to look at her. He looked as though he was holding something back. She could tell there were words in his mind that he wanted to say but he wasn't allowing himself to say them. Then, the tension in his face drained, "no one."

"House," she said softly.

"I'll see you, Cuddy."

She stood frozen, and looked confused as House limped away from her and headed towards the elevator. She thought that maybe she read too much into the night before. Maybe he had been drinking, but, then, she didn't remember tasting or smelling any alcohol on him. Maybe he was upset and needed some kind of release, some challenge, and decided trying to kiss her was it. She sighed when she watched him enter the elevator and she walked towards her office solemnly.

House inhaled and exhaled slowly when he caught a glimpse of the look on Cuddy's face before the doors closed. He froze. He wanted to tell her everything. That it was Monica calling but its not what she thought. He was trying to end things with her.

But his damn nerves wouldn't let him tell her, so, he just left. He thought about how he could fix things with her, how he can tell her what he wanted her to know on the ride up to his floor.

He still had no idea once he got there.

He sighed, and glanced towards the office door of Wilson but opted to not go in. The way he seemed buddy-buddy with Cuddy lately, he knew he ran the risk of getting yelled at for not only kissing her and leaving her the way he did but, also, doing so when things weren't officially over with Monica. He's one to judge, he thought to himself, but kept on towards his office anyway.

"What have you mindless beings been doing since we've parted over night?" House asked his team when he entered the room where they were all sitting and waiting for him.

"House, you have a visitor," Foreman told him, lifting his eyebrows in the direction of his office.

House swung his head to follow and when he saw the long legs that he grew used to seeing crossed in his chair waiting for him he looked back at Chase, Cameron, and Foreman. "Wait for me," he told them and went into his office.

"What are you doing here?" he asked when he stepped through the doors that joined the two rooms.

Monica uncrossed her legs and sat up, "you weren't at the meeting last night, and I tried calling you but-"

"I was busy," he interrupted, motioning for her to get out of his chair so he could take it. She obeyed and took a seat in the chair to the right across from his desk while he sat down.

"You couldn't answer when you were walking in? I just tried calling a second ago."

"Which was pointless, since you were here anyway," he snapped back.

She narrowed her eyes on him, "what's wrong? Is there something you're not telling me?"

"I should be asking you the same thing. You should have done both of us a favor and just ended it instead of just keeping me around for what?...when everyone else is busy?" He reached into his pocket and dug out a pill bottle.

Monica's eyes widened, because from what he said, she knew he saw her the night before, but also because of what he was doing. "You're taking Vicodin again?" He looked at her defiantly and popped a couple into his mouth. "Look," she stood up and walked over to his side of the desk and turned his chair so he would face her, blocking the next room with her body. "I did something stupid that I regret because what I came to realize is that its you that I-"

"House, I think we should talk about-" Cuddy stopped short when she looked up from entering his office through the other room and saw Monica turn to look at her, with House exposed in the process, sitting comfortably on his chair, wide eyed, seeing Cuddy. "I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to interrupt," she said, looking away disoriented, not expecting to see what she was seeing.

House's heart beat faster and pushed Monica out of his way with his cane and tried to catch up with her as she left from where she came from and took quick steps down the hall. His leg was shooting with pain, not allowing him to go as fast as he wanted. "Cuddy," he called out, as he exited the adjoined room. She kept walking, and looked like she was gaining speed. He stopped in the hallway, grabbing his leg, knowing the pain would be too much if he tried any further to catch up with her. "Cuddy, it's not what you think!" he shouted desperately. Before he was able to get another word in, the elevator doors opened and closed and Cuddy was gone...


	14. Chapter 14

A/N- I'm so sorry you guys for taking forever with my updates lately! I've been looking for a new place to live and found one (yay!) and the relocating is taking up some time, and now that I'm at the new place, I have been getting settled. Hopefully I will be updating more frequently again soon, until then, I'll post whenever I get the chance. Thanks for hanging in there! ...

* * *

"Dammit," House mumbled to himself and turned to go back to his office and was greeted by the sight of Monica still there. "Why the hell are you here? Why are screwing things up for me?" he demanded.

"Screwing things up for you?"

"That's what I said! You had to have known I saw you!" House spat out limping quickly to the corner of his desk as she stood next to his chair. "So, why the hell are you here?" House snapped. Monica looked over his shoulder feeling awkward and embarrassed that all the members of his team were looking straight ahead of them but, were very obviously looking in the corner of their eye to watch what was going on. House took notice of where she was looking and he turned his head to face the other room which they all quickly looked down to make it seem like they had no interest but House knew them better than that. "Oh what is it? You don't want to make a big scene?" he asked in fake concern.

"You can be a real ass if you want to be," Monica told him.

"Yeah, well, it's nothing I haven't heard before. Can you leave my office now?" House asked like a kid asking for his toy back. "I have to go fix things with Cuddy and I'd rather do it with you not here." He turned away from her appalled look and started limping out of his office and down the hall to get to the elevator to lead him to Cuddy's office. He smiled to himself when he heard heels come from where he just did that went down the opposite direction to leave.

* * *

House opened the door to Cuddy's office when he reached it, and she knew it was him without having to look up at him from standing over her desk, having just got there herself. "I've had it with you House..whatever this thing is... that moment we had last night, it was nothing. We are nothing. So, just...go back to your girlfriend." Cuddy hated hearing the words coming from her own mouth but she'd rather be done with it before she got too deeply involved; and she hated that she was already hurting from it. "I'm sick of fighting for you."

"Fighting for me?" he moved his cane and took a step closer to her, his eyes filled with anger from the words she just said. "You call running away and hiding in your office 'fighting for me'? I'm right here, Cuddy! You're the one pushing away!"

"Maybe you shouldn't be here," she answered, her voice uneven, looking up at him, leaning on her desk for support, her eyes full of hurt that became more prominent the closer he got to her.

"You don't mean that," he told her, his voice low, his body now only an inch away from hers as his eyes wandered around her face, taking in every expression that told him she was lying. But he knew why she was. The same reason he would be if the situation were reverse. She was guarding herself; protecting her feelings.

"I do mean it," she answered, her breath caught in her throat when he closed the gap in between them and felt his chest against her breasts.

"You're lying," he answered flatly.

"House, don't do this," she begged.

"You really want me to go?" his gaze dropped down to her lips which stayed slightly open. He watched as they stayed that way, showing no indication of answering his question so glanced up into her eyes. They were pleading with him to not continue.

His body started to ache for her; wanting to relive what happened the other night. He hated that he let Monica come in between them and ruin it for them. He wasn't expecting this; not from Cuddy. He had been throwing hookers in her face for years now, making comments that can be deemed as sexual harassment at her for as long as he could remember, but she let them go. She always had some kind of comment to put him back in his place, or even gave him a grin if what he said she took as a compliment, but he never saw this coming. Monica wasn't a hooker, she was someone who kept coming back to him; what would look like a steady girlfriend to anyone looking in from the outside who didn't know him well enough to know that no one would willingly get that close to him unless there was something wrong with her too, and in Monica's case, there was. She had the same addiction problem he had.

But, there was Cuddy. Cuddy who, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find anything wrong with. Nothing that he couldn't deal with anyway. And she was backing into a corner, giving up on him. He knew there was only one thing he had to do to show her he wanted her, that she is the one he chooses.

He leaned in, ignoring her resistance and his mouth met hers. The second it did she moaned out a cry and intertwined her tongue with his when he plunged his into her mouth. She leaned back and felt her desk up against her and it registered where they were, and how easily they could be seen. "House," she said in the corner of her mouth, not daring to break the kiss. "Not here."

He became aware that it was during the day and anyone can look in through the glass doors of her office and see them. He couldn't care less if they did but, he knew she wouldn't want it. He thought quickly of what to do to fix it, and broke the kiss and grabbed onto her hand with his free left hand, while his right held the side of his leg, leaving his cane behind and led her into her bathroom and closed the door and locked it behind them.

She stood next to the sink and he leaned into her for another kiss but she stopped him by putting her right hand on his chest. "Your leg. Sit on the toilet." The right side of his mouth curved up into a smile and he limped over and sat down on the seat that was already put down and she followed him over there.

He watched as she hesitated. "What is it?" he asked. He waited for an answer but didn't get one. He instead watched as her face showed even more hesitation in what they were about to do. "Cuddy?"

She took a step back. "I don't know if we should do this."

He let out a breath, "that's your problem, you think too much!" he said with more irritation in his voice then he meant to.

"I don't want to be the other woman!" she shouted out angrily, reacting to his tone.

"Dammit, Cuddy! How many times do I have to tell you're not!"

"You've never-"

"I am now!"

She sighed, "you're just saying it because you want sex."

He scowled at this sudden change in her mood. "If all I wanted was sex, I wouldn't bother doing this would I? I'd just call someone to come to me."

"And Monica is alright with this?"

He let out an irritated sigh, "this is still about Monica? It's over between the two of us."

"Says who?"

"Me!"

"I just saw her in your office, House!"

"Yeah... and I kicked her out of it!"

Cuddy took a deep breath and held his gaze before she spoke again. "I think you should leave," she said quietly.

"You don't mean that," he answered desperately.

"I do."

"No," he snapped.

"House," she said sternly.

Their eyes locked, and finally, House gave in and let her win. He wanted to push harder, to tell her what an idiot she was being about it all, but, he decided to let it go. He would give her space, and maybe tomorrow, he will try again. "Fine." He used his right hand to help push himself up by pressing it down onto her sink and she took a couple steps back, giving him room. He opened the door back up and grabbed his cane he left leaning against her desk, and limped out, closing the door behind him.

Cuddy stood where she was, her gaze still on the spot where his cane was a minute ago, still seeing it in her minds eye and her lip started quivering and a tear ran down her left cheek...


	15. Chapter 15

Regret instantly followed once the tear reached her chin and dropped to the ground. What was she doing? This is what she wanted and she was fighting against it, pushing it all away. She forced her feet to move and head towards the direction of the parking lot knowing him well enough to know that he was leaving the hospital and not going back to his office to continue working. The boss side of her usually takes over in cases like this and gets mad at him for leaving. But, now, she couldn't care less. She wanted to catch up with him but, it had nothing to do with the hospital or any patients.

The cold air made the hair on her arms stand up within seconds once she exited through the lobby doors having not thought about bringing her jacket. She saw him at his motorcycle and not wanting to go back to get her jacket, she hugged herself while walking quickly towards him.

"House!" she shouted out, and stopped short when she saw him jerk his head back like she saw him do more times then she can count over the years and she felt her heart sink. He was taking Vicodin. It had to be. "House," she said in a softer tone once she reached ear shot.

He looked at her while swallowing hard, "what?" he asked in a distant tone. A tone that he would use with a patient. She winced at it, but knew she was the one who did it. If she hadn't stopped him, he'd be with her in her office still. He was the one being guarded now.

"I thought you weren't going to take those anymore. I thought you were doing good."

He rolled his eyes and clicked his cane on the side of his motorcycle and grabbed his right thigh to help his leg over to sit down. "Don't worry. I'm not going to come to work all drugged up tomorrow," he paused and looked away from her to looking straight ahead for a moment in thought, then looked back at her, "well, not so much where I can't do my job."

"That's not why I'm worried," she answered.

He scoffed at her concern, "then why?"

"House, don't be like this," she pleaded.

"Oh, don't be like this," he said in a thoughtful tone. "How am I supposed to be Cuddy?"

She sighed in frustration more with herself then with him. She knew he would act like this; he had every right to be. She hated that she found herself in this situation. It was just her reaction with him. She wanted to get close to him, to be with him, but, something about him made her want to run in the opposite direction once he responded. She wished she could get over this fear she had with him. "House, just, take care of yourself." She mustered in a defeating tone.

She brushed her bangs out off her forehead due to the wind blowing them all around when she stood out there with him and she felt his focus still on her when she looked away to go back into the hospital. She knew he was studying her body language. He was trying to figure her out and it both thrilled and scared her that he was.

"Cuddy." She swiveled around on her right heel and turned to face him.

"What is it, House?" she asked in an even tone, trying to mask the emotions that were running through her.

"I know why you're acting the way you are," he said confidently.

She smirked, "you do?"

"You're scared to get close to me because I'm a pill popping, antisocial, ass of a doctor who wouldn't be good for anyone. And I don't blame you if-"

"That's not why I-"

"It is."

"Quit telling me how I feel and think, House. You don't know everything."

"Then prove it."

"How?"

"Come over later." Cuddy's mouth fell agape and House smirked, "that's what I thought. Good night, Cuddy."

Cuddy watched as House started his motorcycle and rode out of the parking lot towards the street that led to his place. A shiver went down her spine with the thought of going over there and went back into the hospital to finish up her day...


	16. Chapter 16

A/N- I know there are stories I have out there that I have been neglecting (sorry about that) but, I'm trying to focus on these two (this one and Another Chance Of Dysfunctional Bliss) before I look back into Life After Wilson and The Genius Effect..but, they will be continued, I promise..

* * *

Cuddy reached House's apartment complex a couple hours after she saw him last leaving the hospital. She thought about not coming, but she knew if she didn't, then it would be harder to get to where she wanted to be with him, and he left a choice for her. He knew when she wanted something badly enough, she would see it through. So she knew he was taking a chance just by offering what he did. If she didn't show, then, he would know that she didn't want them to happen badly enough and he would stop being persistent. A part of her didn't believe that because he always seems to annoy her and bother her more when he knew he wasn't wanted. But, a bigger part of her didn't want to take the chance of this one time, he actually responds in a mature way and leaves her alone.

She nervously got out of her car and was taken aback to see his motorcycle gone. Fear tore through her that he had already given up on her showing. That he may be at a bar somewhere making an ass out of himself with some woman just to see how far he could get. She paced his front door, knowing coming was a mistake in that moment. He wasn't waiting around for her to show, she shouldn't have expected him to. He was messing with her like he always has. And she fell right into his trap.

She shook her head with her eyes closed, knowing she should have known better and let out a deep breath and turned on her heel to go back to her car and was stopped short in her tracks at the sight of him standing in her way. "So, you decided to come by after all?" he asked smugly.

"I..didn't hear you get here," she said nervously.

"You expected me to shout out that I'm coming from down the street?" he asked, limping his way to his door as his left hand dug into his left jean pocket for his keys and kept his focus on her as she took a few steps back to give him some room.

"No. I mean I didn't hear your motorcycle," she answered.

"Well, I used it," he responded, turning, his back to her as he unlocked and opened his door. He swiveled his head to look at her with an arched eyebrow. "You coming in, or, are you just going to stay out here all night?"

She took a second to answer as she replayed the last few minutes back in her head. Had she really been that much in thought where she didn't hear the motorcycle at all? "Do you want me to?" she asked.

He shrugged, "unless you just came here to tell me how bad of an entrance I made towards my own apartment, I imagine you came here to come in. So, if you want to..." he walked through his door and left it open for her to follow him as he dropped his keys on the bookshelf next to the door and tossed his jacket onto the couch.

She took enough steps into his apartment to get through the door and closed it behind her while looking at it, and her focus stayed on the door and away from him. She took a couple deep breaths, feeling his eyes on the back of her head, before she turned. When she did, she saw his body leaning against the back of his couch, with his arms stretched out, palms resting on the top of the couch to support himself. "I don't really know what I'm doing here," she said, breaking the silence.

"You don't?" he asked, an eyebrow arched again, enjoying the sight in front of him of an embarrassed Cuddy.

Just like it was set on queue, Cuddy's cell phone started ringing and she quickly yanked it out of her purse. "Hello?" she said into the phone while still watching House as he watched her. "No, its okay, what is it?"

House's phone rang next. He rolled his eyes, knowing that if they both got a call within seconds of each other, it had to be hospital related and he wasn't in the mood to go back. He stared down at his phone that rang in his palm, the ring tone, and number telling him it was Foreman. His eyes rolled up to look at Cuddy when he heard her tone sound angry and saw her give him a look that said her anger was at him for his ignorance of his phone interfering in her call. He hit the button to answer and put it up to his ear. "I thought we were over this love-struck, can't go without you for more then an hour phase of our relationship," he said into his phone.

"That phase ended a long time ago," Foreman answered, and paused when he heard a voice on the other end of House's phone. "Is that Cuddy in the background? I thought she left...I thought you left already."

"It is.. we did. She has a side job as a hooker, doesn't want anyone to know about it. I called for one and got her. What are you calling for?"

"We need you back in here."

"You can't tell me what's going on over the phone? You want to drag a cripple back out into the cold, once he got all settled and warm for the night? I had plans you know."

"Right, sure you did. Just get here." Foreman hung up before House got the chance to comment back.

House slipped his phone back into his pocket and glanced back up at Cuddy who was already off the phone. "Looks like we both have to go back in."

He scowled, "you're not going to tell me why either?"

"If I did, you think it would make you want to go in? To be excited about helping people for once?"

He smirked at how quickly she can go from being nervous, to being angry, to annoyed with his work ethic all in a couple minute span. "No," he answered, pushing himself away from the couch and toward the front door to open for both of them and limped through first, smelling her shampoo that she used in her hair as he passed. "But at least I'd have some good excuses as to why I can't help ready when I get there."

"Well I'm so sorry to inconvenience you," she said back sarcastically.

"At least you're sorry."

"We probably shouldn't leave at the same time," she told him when he took a couple steps forward then turned back to see she hadn't moved since she stepped outside his apartment.

"Of course. You don't want the hospital to know that you want me. Since, you're doing such a bang up job at hiding that so far, with following me to the parking lot, finding me when I'm showering, looking upset in front of my team," he paused for a second. "I said 'bang,'" he smirked.

She ignored everything he listed about her actions not because she didn't agree, but because she knew he was right and she was upset with herself about it. "If we walk in at the same time they aren't going to think that I want you."

"Hey, I'm just trying to follow your logic. So, hang back here for a while," he took a step away from her and turned his head to look at her over his shoulder. "You can curl up in my bed to wrap yourself in my scent if you like. That should waste some time, and that will really get them talking!"

He turned back and continued to walk towards his motorcycle as she scoffed at him. Her expression softened from rolling her eyes to a sad one. She hated that she actually wanted to do what he suggested sarcastically. She let out a deep sigh, closed and locked his front door, and hugged herself against the cold while walking back to her car...


End file.
